I'm a car salesmen, Go ahead and ask me anything

[TimSJ]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

can I buy a vehicle with my Visa? and if so, what will I, the consumer, get a better deal with, cash? Visa? financing?

You can but most places will want to charge you the transaction fee to do so. At my dealership we will only accept deposits up to $5000 unless you want to pay. It is not easy to eat the 1.5-3% iin fees on a huge purchase such as a car.

[TimSJ]

Originally Posted by trew

Hi Tim,

Can you comment on the quality of recent model year Mercedes? I've read a lot of reports about how Mercedes quality is slipping ever since the Daimler Chrysler merger.

The quality of newer MB's and european cars in General is much much better. No question we were in the crapper for a few years. The cars today that we are turning out are great.

The new 2008 C-Class for instance did over 15 million miles of testing before going into production. http://http://www.emercedesbenz.com/...C_Class_1.html

The biggest problem that we faced was that they were trying to cram too much technology into the cars and as we know with computers they do crash. Through the whole time there were very little in mechanical problems all of the problems were with niggly bs problems. NAvigation, phone system etc....

MB actually was just awarded the lowest breakdown rates in germany by ADAC (German CAA)

[TimSJ]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Just to clarify, there are tens of thousands of Chrysler 300 C's out there with tires that Goodyear warranties to 100,000 km but Chrysler knows will pooch out at 30,000 km and Goodyear is going to honour a warranty?

I doubt Goodyear is replacing tens of thousands of sets of tires in these circumstances. You can always ask but it seems unlikely.

I think its about $2,400 to replace four tires so its not an insignificant issue.

Cowperson

Is it a tire wear warranty though? or just a road hazard?

If it is, that would be a Goodyear warranty. I can guarentee you that Chrysler would not guarentee the tires lasting for 100k. make sure that you have proper documentation of tire rotations or they will really give you the runaround.

Personally i would stay away from goodyear. I have never had good luck with them at all.

[TimSJ]

Originally Posted by jam26

My girlfriend has a 2001 Hyundai Accent. She hit a pole with it in a parking lot, putting a sizeable dent in the front quarter. It's just cosmetic, but will cost $800ish to repair.
Will the resale value of the car decline by more than $800 due to a dent? Would we be better off repairing it before selling/trading it in or just selling as is?

Hard to say. You likely will only get somewhere between $1,000 - $3,000 as a trade. Is it worth it to spend $800 probably not. Jsut know going in that they are going to try and ding you about $1k becasue of it..

[Temporary_User]

I have a car here in calgary.
How can I find out what it would be worth to sell.
I know in the states there is the blue book. is there something online that I can look @ to figure this all out?

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

Don't buy any of it.. huge profit centre for dealers. You can get it done cheaper yourself. And besides if you are only going to keep a car for 3 or 4 years why would you car about rust protection.. Most manufacturer have a 4 or 5 year rust warranty anyway.

So of the things offered, what do you recommend getting done on my own? I was sort of thinking about the 3M hood protection thing...or purchasing the electronic rust inhibitor from Canadian Tire...

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by Temporary_User

I have a car here in calgary.
How can I find out what it would be worth to sell.
I know in the states there is the blue book. is there something online that I can look @ to figure this all out?

It's called Blackbook in Canada, you can follow this link from Toyota:


http://toyota.blkbk.com/toyota/jb/se...253FAD84CA0B1B

[Dynamic]

I have a 05 Honda Civic SE (special edition, A/c, pdl's,keyless entry,center console) that has alot of km's, about 116k right now, almost all highway. A few small dings in the hood, door, and have service records to about 70k and have been doing my own maitenence since. I also got the timing belt changed at the dealership. I think it was listed at 19k new and have paid about 8-9 k off. How much off a hassle would it be to trade up for a Acura 1.7EL that I seen for 19k with only 23k's on it?

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

can I buy a vehicle with my Visa? and if so, what will I, the consumer, get a better deal with, cash? Visa? financing?

Well I'm not the car salesman.....but I can tell you it won't be with Visa. Usually the dealership will not allow you to put the full amount on your Visa. On my last two vehichles they let me use my Visa for deposits and down payments which were like $5000 and $6500 amounts. But the usual rule of thumb is $5000 maximum from what I've been told.

[TimSJ]

Originally Posted by Dynamic

I have a 05 Honda Civic SE (special edition, A/c, pdl's,keyless entry,center console) that has alot of km's, about 116k right now, almost all highway. A few small dings in the hood, door, and have service records to about 70k and have been doing my own maitenence since. I also got the timing belt changed at the dealership. I think it was listed at 19k new and have paid about 8-9 k off. How much off a hassle would it be to trade up for a Acura 1.7EL that I seen for 19k with only 23k's on it?

That one is a hard call. You already have 5 years of an average drivers mileage on it. There was 1 05 civic SE with 54,000km that went through the auction at $12,600.. There were a couple with 160,000km that went through at $6700 so maybe $8-9000... Really a tough call

[wegotBeers]

I am looking to buy a car in the $20000 range. I want it to be reliable, not too big, and still fun to drive. I am thinking a slightly used car still under warranty but haven't ruled anything out yet. Two questions, any suggestions on the type of car I should look at? And is it worth looking to buy the car in the states and how much of a haste is it to bring it into Canada?

Thanks.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

Is it a tire wear warranty though? or just a road hazard?

If it is, that would be a Goodyear warranty. I can guarentee you that Chrysler would not guarentee the tires lasting for 100k. make sure that you have proper documentation of tire rotations or they will really give you the runaround.

Personally i would stay away from goodyear. I have never had good luck with them at all.

Well, let's face it, any normal person buying a car with wheels having a 100,000 km warranty would reasonably expect the wheels to deliver them somewhere within 80,000 km of the warranty.

That's a reasonable, common man, expectation.

The fact they only get to 30,000 km and they are $2,400 to replace per set (for four tires, I think) can't help but leave you with the impression that someone else should be responsible . . . . either the manufacturer of the vehicle for using inadequate wheels, the dealer for not informing you of the issue or the tire manufacturer.

Essentially, its about $2,400 per year with reasonable driving.

I'm pretty sure no one is going to take responsibility for it though . . . it's an interesting and expensive situation for the buyer of this particular model.

Wonderful car though. Motortrend's car of the year in 2005. I understand a lot of them are being traded in though, probably because of this issue.

Cowperson

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Well I'm not the car salesman.....but I can tell you it won't be with Visa. Usually the dealership will not allow you to put the full amount on your Visa. On my last two vehichles they let me use my Visa for deposits and down payments which were like $5000 and $6500 amounts. But the usual rule of thumb is $5000 maximum from what I've been told.

That would be correct. I recently paid cash for a 2005 Ford Escape XLT. The dealer let me pay a part of it with my VISA.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Here's a question:

Why the **** do dealers give a price and then add freight, PDI, conveyance fee etc. on top of the price afterwards? Roll the frickin costs into one number people!

Also, is there a particular time of year when current models drop b/c the new models are coming in?

[TimSJ]

The add the fees after the fact so that they can advertise a low payment. I always got ticked at MB they would advertise a C230 at $399.. now any smart person knows that you can't drive an MB for $399 there has to be a catch. But they all do it.

new models traditionally arrive in the fall but that is no longer the case they come at all times of the year.. Stick to end of the month end of the year for best deals.

[OilersBaby]

Originally Posted by TimSJ

Extended Warranty is one of those things. It is hard to pay for but with todays cars there are so many electronics that can get expensive to replace. It is a personal call. It is a profit centre to be sure though. Also be careful of some of the 3rd party warranty companies make sure it is a well established one. Go with a manufacture backed one if you can. MB for example has Star Certified. It is from MB so there is not much chance of them not being aroudn to honor it. Also some of them have payout limits be careful of them.

As and aside when i bought my wifes MB SUV i did buy the MB extended warranty. It was not cheap but personally i think it is good value and it will only help when i go to sell the car..

I just bought the 2007 Civic EX Hybrid with navigation. I bought the extended warranty because of the navigation - I figured since computers and electonics have glitches, that I should get a warranty in case it crashes, messes up, or whatever else. But now it seems that it's prolly not goin to break down and it was a HUGE waste of money? What are your thoughts?

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by OilersBaby

I just bought the 2007 Civic EX Hybrid with navigation. I bought the extended warranty because of the navigation - I figured since computers and electonics have glitches, that I should get a warranty in case it crashes, messes up, or whatever else. But now it seems that it's prolly not goin to break down and it was a HUGE waste of money? What are your thoughts?

I'd say it would've been a smart investment if you bought a German car with all their electronic gizmo problems, especially VWs, they're notorious for electronic things that go wrong

[MRCboicgy]

Ok, connecting my "ask me" thread to yours:

Which new car ('06 or '07 models) is the gayest?

[V]

I drive an 87 rusted out Buick Century. This is the nicest car I've ever owned.

Should I just kill myself now?

[Eddie Bronze]

The more I read here, the more I realize I got screwed when I bought my Eclipse.